There has been $2.5 billion requested for the bilateral agreements for four priority areas: mental health, long-term care, health care workers and primary care.
Can you talk a little bit about how that funding will roll out in terms of the needs? Right now we say that we have universal health care in this country, but when it comes to mental health, we have a two-tiered system. Most people can't access mental health supports if they want to or when they want to. Usually someone has to get arrested to get the help they need when they need it, or they have to go to drastic measures, sadly.
Can you talk about what it would take to get to parity for mental and physical health care, so that people could get access to it and it would be costed out, and what parity for mental and physical health would look like?
Also, since we know it costs society $50 billion a year, what is the cost of not doing anything more when it comes to mental health?